Virat Kohli named 2017 Cricketer of the Year in annual ICC awards 

As is the tradition every year, the ICC announced the winners of the 2017 Cricket Awards, with Indian captain Virat Kohli winning the Cricketer of the Year award.

The 29-year-old has also been named as the ODI Player of the Year for his stupendous run in limited-overs cricket in the period under consideration.

This is the second time that Kohli has won the coveted award in ODIs, having previously named the ODI Player of the Year in 2012.

“It means a lot to win to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for becoming the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 and also the ICC ODI Player of the Year,” he said. “I won that back in 2012 also but it’s the first time winning the Garfield Sobers Trophy, and it’s a huge honour for me. It’s probably the biggest of all in world cricket and two Indians getting it back-to-back makes it more special", Kohli told ICC.

“Last time it was Ash [Ravichandran Ashwin] and this time I’m getting it, so I’m really really honoured and I’d like to thank the ICC for recognising all the hard work that we all put in for our respective sides and I want to congratulate all the other winners also", he added.

Kohli scored as many as six centuries in ODIs last year, averaging a stupendous 76.84 in 2017.

His ODI career average is now pegged at 55.74, which is the highest ever by a batsman among all Test playing nations.

Kohli has also been in a rich vein of form in Tests: before July 2016, he did not have a single double-century to his name, now he has six.

Australian Test captain Steven Smith was named as the Test Cricketer of the Year.

"It's a great honour to win the Test player of the year award. It's called Test cricket for a reason and I'm very humbled to win that award.", Smith was quoted as saying.

"I got six Test hundreds for the year in 2017, which I was pleased about. I was pleased with the way I played but what pleased me most of all was that I helped us win Tests and, most importantly, The Ashes. To make a contribution in big matches and in big series and assist the team is what it is all about for me, and if I’m doing that then there’s a good chance that awards like this will follow," he added.